


You´re the only place that feels like home

by LilMissAwesome



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Babysitter Bucky, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Late night talks, M/M, Mpreg, Nightmares, Omega Tony Stark, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peter being adorable, Protective!Bucky, Swearing, The Patriarchy, War Veteran Bucky Barnes, allusions to past abuse, allusions to past cheating (not from the main characters), mentions of scars, sharing meals, shopping together, they were roommates, vague reference to forced abortion, vague reference to the type of things that might happen in active war zones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:20:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24604603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilMissAwesome/pseuds/LilMissAwesome
Summary: Due to a new law, that doesn´t allow Omegas to sign contracts anymore, Tony Stark finds himself in the need of an Alpha roommate - with emphasis on the "mate" part. Lucky for him that Bucky Barnes is also looking for a place to stay...
Relationships: Clint Barton/Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 61
Kudos: 262
Collections: Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020, Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	1. Of all the things I´ve lost, I miss my mind the most

**Author's Note:**

> This will fill some of my Bingo squares.  
> For chapter one we have  
> Tony Stark Bingo: S1- Sam Wilson/Falcon  
> Bucky Barnes Bingo: B5 - AU: No Powers
> 
> It´s also gonna be full of some of my favourite tropes and will hopefully update regularly once a week.  
> This isn´t betad, so please let me know if you stumble over any tense shifts or find any typos.
> 
> And last but not least: Special Thanks to the Rhodey to my Bucky (don´t worry, it makes sense when you´re us) [AngelinaAnturajalka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelinaAnturajalka/pseuds/AngelinaAnturajalka)!

“Fucking fuck!” Tony exclaimed as he closed the apartment door behind him, one hand running through his already pretty unruly hair as the other threw the single key on the “Home is where the Pizza is”-keychain on the small side table.

“Oi! Impressionable young ears present!” His fellow Omega Clint exclaimed from the living room floor, where he was entertaining two young pups – his own daughter Kate and Tony´s son Peter. Peter looked up and gave his Papa a little smile before focusing back on the army of stuffed animals in front of him while Kate just giggled as Clint tried to cover her ears to protect her from further profanities.

Tony mumbled a distracted “Sorry” before sitting down on the couch, brushing aside a sippy cup and a wooden block – green with a huge A on 2 and a picture of an Apple on the other 4 sides – with the practiced ease of a parent of a 2-year-old.

“I take it the day didn´t go well?” Clint asked, sitting next to his friend and pulling him into a loose hug. The smell of _OmegaNiceWarmHomeCalmPupsSafe_ did a lot to calm Tony´s nerves but it wasn´t much actual help.

“Went about as good as I expected.” Tony mumbled as he started to draw distracted circles on his still small baby bump. “Don´t even know why I bother anymore. It´s the same everywhere. _Will your Alpha be joining us? Are you gonna need a second look around the place with your Alpha? Is your Alpha okay with only seeing the place when they sign the contract?_ ” Tony muffled his frustrated scream against Clint´s shoulder in an attempt to not scare the pups.

The thing was, Tony didn´t have an Alpha. What he had where a whole lot of painful memories, more scars than he knew how to hide – both physical and mental – and the two most precious gifts ever to come out of a fucked up situation.

The problem was that the other thing he also didn´t have – and kind of desperately needed – was an apartment for him and his pups to stay at. And for that, according to the present legislature, he needed an Alpha. Because the current people in power – mostly Alpha knotheads that all seemed of the opinion that the only time an Omega was allowed out of the bedroom was to make a sandwich for their Alpha - had decided that the minds of Omegas where to fickle to allow them to sign contracts, including work contracts and lease agreements, requiring an Alpha related by blood or mating to sign for them.

And since the only blood-related Alpha Tony still spoke to on a regular basis was still several weeks from being born – let alone able to sign something (and wouldn´t that be just like those stupid knotheads to let a newborn sign a contract that their Omega parent wasn´t allowed to sign just because of…biology?) – and just the word “mate” had him break out in a cold sweat, Tony was at a bit of an impasse at the moment.

“You know you are more than welcome to stay here with us. Sam doesn´t mind and Katey-Kat loves having Pete around.” Clint pulled Tony closer, one hand rubbing soothing circles into his back. “And I´m starting to tolerate your presence as well.” He made sure to keep his tone light, make the teasing obvious and soften any possible sting with a quick kiss to the top of Tony´s head.

“Rude…” Tony mumbled, not actually offended, before pulling away a little. “I know and it´s not that I don´t appreciate it. But…I really don´t want to be a burden. There are currently 5 people here, before too long there is gonna be a sixth – and judging by his kicks a pretty loud one at that. And I just don´t want Sam…or you…to get mad and…”

Tony broke off with a shudder and Clint pulled him back into his arms, shushing him. “You are not a burden Tony. Not on me, not on Sam, not on anyone. We love having you here and that extends to both of your pups. I might hate the circumstances that brought you to my door, but I love that you are here with me, where you are safe and cared for.” Clint sniffled, the confession having brought tears to his eyes. “You are welcome to stay here as long as you like, I mean it. But if you´d rather find a place of your own, I promise we´ll help you with that as well. Sam deals with stupid bureaucracy on a daily basis and I´m still the king of finding loopholes, I´m sure when we pair this with your natural genius, we´re gonna come up with something.”

<<<>>>

“Shit, shit, shit…” Bucky mumbled, trying to stave off the oncoming panic attack by focusing on the uncomfortable plastic chair he was sitting in, the voices of the people around him, the smell of the floor polish that was so common in public buildings – but his eyes kept on going back to the small backpack placed between his feet. The small backpack that contained all of the Alpha´s earthly belongings (aside from the couple of cardboard boxes that his sister had stored for him in her basement, though he had no idea how his highschool yearbook and little league jersey where going to help him at this point in time) - including his last clean shirt and his wallet with exactly 23,75$ in it. Which wasn´t enough, wouldn´t be enough, just like him, not enough…

Before Bucky could spiral down an anxiety-filled rabbit hole, a calm voice pulled him from his own thoughts. “…and now she obviously refuses to eat anything that isn´t ball-shaped and Clint blames…You back with me Buck?” It was Sam Wilson, his former counselor here at the VA, sitting on the chair next to his, just close enough that Bucky could feel the warmth of another body next to his without feeling crowded by his presence.

“Yeah…” Bucky replied, before clearing his throat because his voice sounded like it hadn´t been used in days. “I was just thinking about some…stuff.”

Sam folded his arms in front of his chest and leaned back. “Obviously wasn´t kittens and roses…wanna tell me about it?”

Bucky huffed out something that in another life could have been a laugh. “You asking as my therapist?”

“Technically not your therapist anymore, Buck. Just asking as a friend who is honestly a little worried to find you here at 10:15 on a Wednesday. Not to sound like your ma, but shouldn´t you be at work?”

“Got fired.” Bucky rested his elbow on his knee, letting his long hair fall in front of his face in an attempt to hide from what is sure to be disappointment coming from Sam. “Again…”

Sam let out a long breath, which Bucky recognized as the intro to his "problem-solver" mode. Sam was analytical and focused like that, tended to think things through and plan ahead. Not jump headfirst into any stupid, half-baked idea he could find like Bucky tended to do. That's why Sam had the steady job and the perfect family while Bucky had... well, "nothing" was a pretty good word for it. 

Sam was talking about possible job leads and making a few calls, but Bucky interrupted him "Don't bother... Unless you can find me something that's gonna pay me like 800$ by Friday, it's gonna be the least of my problems." Now it was Bucky's turn to take a deep breath before confessing. "I'm late on rent. Pierce said if I don't pay in full by the end of the week he's gonna kick me out." 

The sudden way Sam turned his whole body towards him almost gave Bucky second-hand whiplash. “Wait, you need a place to stay?” He sounded almost giddy and Bucky wasn´t sure whether he was supposed to be offended or scared. “I think I have an idea.”

Scared it was then…


	2. They´re the greatest match that Hell has ever seen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Bucky look at a flat. Tony sets some ground rules.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bingo squares for this chapter:  
> Tony Stark Bingo: R4- Exaggeration/White Lies  
> Bucky Barnes Bingo: B4 - Fake Relationship
> 
> Just a short one this time. Things are gonna pick up in the next chapter.

Bucky checked the time on his phone before looking over at the real estate agent and promising "I'm sure they'll be here any minute." In fact, he had no idea, the last information was a “running late” message that by now was over 20 minutes old.

The young Beta just shrugged and leaned back against the door of the apartment they were supposed to look at.

And wasn't that a kick? Just 3 days ago Sam had dragged Bucky to a small coffee shop down the street from the VA, had bought him a large Americano and a bear claw and then proceeded to ignore him as he argued on the phone for the next 10 minutes. Once that was done he'd finally let Bucky in on his "brilliant plan" - Sam´s words, Bucky would have gone with "harebrained scheme". But Bucky had been rather desperate at the time, so he had agreed without asking many questions (in fact he could think of several reasons why an Omega with a pup and a second one on the way would needed the help of a strange Alpha to get an apartment and none of them made for a good second-hand story).

Later that day he had gotten a message from an unknown number with a date and time and an address, followed a few minutes later by "This is Tony, Sam's friend, by the way."

And that was how Bucky found himself in a building that looked fancier than any place he'd ever stayed at, feeling more than slightly under-dressed in his second-best button up, simple black jeans and scuffed up work-boots, waiting for his new room-mate (with emphasis on the "mate" part).

Just as he wanted to check his phone again, the elevator door opened and a slightly haggard looking man pushing a stroller rushed out.

"Sorry, Peter wouldn't go down for his nap and then he was cranky, which made me cranky - hi Bucky-Bear..." he interrupted himself to press a quick kiss to Bucky's cheek and slide a diaper bag onto the Alpha's good shoulder before turning to the estate agent. "There might have been tears…and not just from the actual toddler."

Bucky had to actively stop himself from touching his face where it had met Tony's lips. He found it almost hard to believe that this chatty Omega, with eyes sparkling with mirth as he made a joke to the realtor, was the same person that Bucky had exchanged short, terse, almost rude in their to-the-point-ness messages with. But he looked exactly as he had on the picture he had send Bucky last night - taken in front of a mirror in what was unmistakingly a bathroom, left hand holding his pup, who had his face half hidden in his father's neck, the small baby bump only noticeable when you knew to look for it at the bottom of the frame - except for the fact that his scowl had apparently been replaced by an intoxicating smile.

"You coming, babe?" Tony´s voice brought Bucky back from his thoughts and he hurried to follow him into the apartment.

<<<>>>

The place was absolutely perfect. Bucky was sure that just the living room and kitchen alone had more square feet than the place he'd been raised in. It had three bedrooms - "perfect for a growing family like yours" - including a huge master bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, a small balcony and its own little laundry room, which meant no more trips to the laundromat. But the best thing was that it came fully furnished.

Tony seemed to like it to, as he was "oohing" and "aahing" at everything the realtor pointed out. And Bucky did his best to play the part of the indulgent Alpha that wasn't completely out of his depth and cared about things like crown moldings and storage systems. And who was used to, even comfortable with, Tony constantly touching him to point things out to him, at one point even taking his hand to drag him along.

Bucky knew that Tony was only doing it to sell the story, make them believable as a couple instead of people who had just met for the first time 10 minutes ago but he was harshly reminded of the fact that none of this was real when they ended their tour in the Master bedroom and the realtor left them alone with an "I'll prepare the paper work in the living room". The second the door closed behind the Beta, Tony's smile dropped from his face and he looked more like in the picture he had sent Bucky.

"I really appreciate you doing this, but there are gonna be some ground rules." Tony started, his stern tone in contrast to the gentleness with which he placed a now awake Peter on the king-sized bed that dominated the room. "Peter and I will be taking the master bedroom, you are free to take whichever one you prefer of the other 2 bedrooms. Kitchen and living room are obviously shared spaces, I'm not a neat-freak but please keep in mind that you're going to live with a toddler who pretty much groups things in as either 'toy' or 'food'." The Omega sat down on the bed next to the pup, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Also, I truly do not care about what you're doing on your own time, but please don't bring anybody back here. People will notice and it's just gonna draw unwanted attention." He sounded hurt and as if he was talking from experience, but Bucky knew better than to ask about it. They weren't really mates, they weren't even friends. They were just two strangers who needed each other's help to find a place to live.

So, Bucky just nodded and Tony took this as his cue to continue. "I set up a bank account in your name to cover rent. Everything else, food, toiletries, whatever is your responsibility."

"Oh, that's…Sam got me a job interview next week, so if that goes well, I can cover part of the rent.” Bucky hastened to add to that. “Eventually, I mean.” He really was one of the most pathetic Alpha´s out there.  
Before the intrusive thought could really take hold this time though, Tony interrupted "You don´t need to. Money was never the issue, it´s all just about politics and biology. Just sign the contract and we're good.” He picked Peter up and headed for the door.  
"Sure, you still wanna do this? Last chance to get out." the Omega asked, hand already on the doorknob, ready to head out and finish the paperwork.

Bucky stood in silence for a second, taking in the nicely decorated room and thinking of how much he didn't fit into a place like this, even on one of his better days. He thought of his meager belongings, stored in a locker at the VA. "Actually," he eventually replied, "it feels more like staying is my last chance."


	3. Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony needs a babysitter and Bucky gets a home-cooked meal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we do the usual stuff: This chapter includes mentions of, forced abortion and domestic violence - it´s very vague and not between Bucky and Tony but if you rather want to skip it stop where Tony tells Bucky that Science has come a long way and you can safely pick up after the scene divider again. There is also mention of an altercation between Clint and his foster father and references to a forced marriage - both again, very vague, but feel free to start with "Not that there was any need..." if you rather want to skip it. Take care!
> 
> Bingo squares for this chapter:  
> Tony Stark Bingo: K4- Iron Dad  
> Bucky Barnes Bingo: Y3 - Tony Stark
> 
> And a huge Thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments. It´s the first time I´m posting a WIP, so let´s hope I can keep up...Also, feel free to let me know if there is anything in particular you would like to see.

Living with Bucky…was not what Tony had expected. 

Not that he had much to compare it to. The only other person he'd ever shared a living space with for an extended period of time had been Clint – back when they were both 14, barely presented and sent off to a boarding school for Omegas. Clint by a well-meaning CPS agent after an incident with a knife and Clint's foster father. And Tony by his father, who had hoped for an Alpha heir to continue the family business and didn't know what to do with the useless Omega he had gotten instead.   
Tony and Clint became friends almost instantly, drawn together by the shared knowledge of what it was like to not be wanted by the rest of the world.

Aside from those 3 years – before Howard had taken Tony out of school so he could marry him off as part of a business deal - and the 5 weeks before he'd met Bucky, Tony had always stayed in places too big for the small amount of people that lived in them, mansions that you could get lost in but that still never had enough rooms for Tony to truly hide.

Not that there was any need for Tony to hide from Bucky. The Alpha kept to himself, staying in his room most of the time. He checked with Tony before running a load of washing or using the vacuum to make sure Peter wasn't taking a nap. He kept to his shelves of the fridge and put his used dishes in the dishwasher right away.

The only thing that bugged Tony about Bucky was that he didn't know the Alpha's schedule. True to his word, Bucky had started working for SHIELD, a private security company, about a week after they'd moved in together. And in the two weeks since then he had had several seminars and training sessions and had been shadowing several coworkers during their shifts. Which meant that sometimes he came back from work around six, just as Tony started cooking. Other times he was home all day, sleeping off a night shift and Tony dreaded every noise above a whisper was gonna be the thing to make the Alpha finally snap.

<<<>>>

"No, I totally understand..." Tony walked from his bedroom into the living room, expertly collecting a teddy and a small sock from the floor, as he continued his call with Clint. "I'll figure something out, no need to worry." He ended the call and nearly jumped out of his skin when Bucky asked, "Everything okay?"

The Alpha was in the kitchen, apparently making a sandwich and listening in on Tony's side of the conversation. The Omega's first instinct was to get defensive and snappy but that wouldn´t be fair. Bucky hadn't been sneaking around to see who he was talking to and trying to catch him in a lie afterwards. He had just happened to be standing right there.

So instead Tony took a deep breath and sat down at the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room. "It's nothing...I just have a doctor's appointment and Clint can't take Peter because Kate was up all night with a fever..." He ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stick up even more. "I'm just gonna call and reschedule - "

"I could watch him..." Tony was already halfway out of his chair when the Alpha spoke, so quietly that he couldn't be sure he'd heard him correctly and immediately backpedaling when he saw the surprise on Tony's face at his offer "No, forget it...that was a stupid idea." 

And it would be so easy for Tony to agree with him. Nobody would blame him for not letting a strange Alpha look after his pup, because Alphas did not look after children. But that wasn't true. Sam looked after Kate a lot and had even watched Peter as well a couple of times. And even though everything he'd seen and experienced first-hand in his life up to the point he'd found himself in front of Clint's door, was telling him otherwise, Tony just knew that there were more Alphas like this. Alphas who didn't see their own children as nothing but a nuisance that was best looked after by nannies and tutors. Or he very much wanted to believe that at least.

So, when Bucky picked up his plate, no doubt to hide in his room, Tony shook his head: "No...it's not. That would really help me out actually...unless you don't want to..."

For a second the Alpha stared at him as if he'd gone crazy. "You...really? I don't mind. At all. I grew up with 4 younger sisters and a whole bunch of cousins, feels like I spent most of my teenage years babysitting..." 

And now it was Tony who couldn't help but stare. Gone was his ghost of a roommate, the Alpha who's facial expressions could at best be describes as stoic - though "resting murder face" usually seemed more apt - was suddenly replaced by a young man with a teasing smile and an actual twinkle in his eyes, all because he'd started talking about his family and looking after his younger cousins.

And that did it for Tony, right there and then he decided that leaving Peter with Bucky for the afternoon would not be the worst thing. In fact, at this point it would almost be cruel to the Alpha to refuse his offer.

Before the tiny voice in the back of his head that was still doubting that this was a good idea could talk him out of it, Tony slid out of his seat. "Great. I'll go wake Peter from his nap, tell him about the change of plans." He headed towards the master bedroom. "And you just try to keep my kid alive for a couple of hours." When he looked over his shoulder, Bucky was smiling at him and Tony couldn't help but smile back.

<<<>>>

Tony was still in the waiting room, filling out forms, when Bucky sent him the first picture. In it, Peter was sitting on the floor, in front of the coffee table, what looks like his entire box of crayons spread out in front of him and working hard on some rather abstract painting. The caption read "working on a Masterpiece for Papa". Tony quickly saved it to his phone.

The second one came through while Tony was in the chair, he could hear the faint sound of the notification from where he left his phone under his clothes.   
He checked it as soon as he'd left the doctor's office and couldn't help but grin at the absolutely disgusted face Peter was making in the picture, looking down at a piece of fruit in his hand. "Your child is weird" Bucky had added to this one. "Who doesn't like plums?". 

Just as Tony saved this one, another one came through. Once again Peter was sitting in his booster seat at the dining table, a small green plate in front of him. He was grinning into the camera this time, reaching out a small fist stuffed with a greyish-purple mess. "But Cheerios and Blueberries are apparently tasty...:rolling_eyes:".

"Petey knows what's good. Blueberries are the best!" Tony quickly replied and just before he ducked down into the subway another message came through. A shaky video of Peter laughing in absolute delight as he feeds the sticky mess in his hand to Bucky who is pulling an exaggerated 'eew' face as he chews. "You are both weird" the Alpha says with a smile and the video ends.

Tony spent the entire subway ride home re-watching it.

<<<>>>

Tony had come back home to find Bucky and Peter stretched out on the floor with Peter's dinosaur toys all around them and the domesticity of the scene had almost brought tears to his eyes - stupid pregnancy hormones! And stupid Bucky, because of course the Alpha had noticed right away and had gotten up from the floor and with a concerned look had asked how the appointment had gone.

Luckily, Tony did have just about enough time to ensure him that everything was fine before Peter had managed to scramble up as well to present his Papa with his newest drawing. By the time the toddler was done explaining what exactly each of the shapes were supposed to be, Bucky had left the room.

And now, a couple of hours later - with Peter freshly bathed and put to bed - Tony stood in front of Bucky's room, nervously waiting for a reaction to his knock. He was wondering if he should try again when the Alpha opened the door. 

"Everything okay?" he immediately asked, looking Tony over as if he was checking for any serious injuries. His hair was a tangled mess and there was a pillow crease on his face and Tony felt horrible. 

"Yeah, everything's...sorry for waking you. It's just..." the Omega took a deep breath to steal himself. This was okay, he was being nice, Bucky saying 'no' would not be the end of the world. "I cooked, Baked Ziti, old family recipe and whenever I make anything involving Pasta my great-grandmother's spirit possess me and she was used to cooking for like a family of 20 people so...Are you hungry?"

Bucky stepped out of the room and for a second the two of them were standing way to close – Tony's brain quickly reminded him that the last time he had been this close to the Alpha was the day they'd met, when Tony had greeted Bucky with a kiss to sell them being a couple - but then Bucky simply walked around Tony towards the bathroom. "Thank you, it smells amazing. I'll just quickly wash up, okay?"

Tony just nodded and then pointed towards the dining table. "Great, I'll set everything up. See you in a bit."

<<<>>>

Tony was determined to not let dinner be awkward. So, after Bucky had complimented his cooking, the Omega went straight to the real reason for his invitation: "Thank you for watching Pete today. It really helped me out and he seemed to have a lot of fun as well. Sorry if he was a bit too..." Tony let the sentence hang, not sure really how he wanted to end it. 

"Not a problem at all. He's a great kid." Bucky said, finishing his plate and eying the serving dish. "But honestly, was everything okay at the doctors? I'm sorry I asked in front of Peter...I should have realized…"

Tony pushed the dish towards the other man before replying. "Nah, don't worry. Everything's fine, I'm healthy, baby's healthy." Tony took a sip from his water. "Got a sonogram picture...you wanna see?" Tony didn't know why he'd asked that, except that Bucky seemed interested, in him, in Peter, so maybe he'd be interested in this as well and not just brush it aside with an "I don't have time for this Omega nonsense right now."

Bucky almost choked on a bite of pasta in his eagerness to ensure Tony that he absolutely wanted to see it. "I always thought they looked kinda creepy...cool but creepy" he added as Tony got up to get the picture from his bag.

"My child does not look creepy, thank you very much." Tony said as he handed the picture over though there was no real heat behind it.

"Oh, wow." Bucky looked at the picture, mesmerized. "This looks like an actual human being." 

Tony snatched the picture back and shook his head. "Of course he does. What did you think he was gonna look like? Godzilla?"

Bucky shook his head, a smile on his face. "I just remember when my older cousin got the first sonogram of my niece, she kept crying coz she could never find her on the picture, she was just a... vaguely bean-shaped blob."

"Yeah" Tony said. "I had some of those...from Peter as well." They were back in Malibu, left behind when he'd grabbed only the essentials - mostly Peter's things, a couple of clothes and documents. Or maybe Ty had already thrown them out along with all the rest of Tony's stuff. 

"So, another boy then." Bucky's comment brought Tony out of his musings.

"Yeah, though this one's gonna be an Alpha." Tony put a protective hand over his baby bump and when he looked back up, he met Bucky's confused look.

"Do they know that? Or is it one of those ‘You´re carrying low, you're gonna have a boy’ type things?"

Tony couldn't help but grin at the mention of the old wife's tale. "Science has come a long way in the last couple of years. They can test for that now. Pretty early on, actually." And just like that, the smile disappeared from Tony's face as he remembered an argument from over 3 years ago, with tears and shouts and broken furniture. An argument that Tony had luckily won. He thought of the precious little boy sleeping in the room next door as he added almost silently. "Makes it easier to get rid of unwanted Omega babies. " 

"What the hell…why would anyone…" The Alpha's obvious disgust at this revelation made Tony feel strangely vindicated but he still felt like he had managed to ruin the evening. 

"I have to go check on Peter." Without waiting for a reply, the Omega headed to his room.

<<<>>>

The first thing Tony noticed when he finally stumbled out into the living area the next morning, was that Bucky had cleared away the dishes from the night before.

The second thing he noticed was that the Alpha had put a few things up on the fridge – the picture Peter had drawn, the sonogram and a handwritten note with his work schedule for the next couple of days and "Just in case you need a babysitter again".


	4. Dream of better lives the kind which never hate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Bucky do some shopping and have a late night conversation. Peter shares his cookies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short warning for this one: Bucky wakes from a nightmare in the second part of this chapter. Again, no graphic descriptions but there are mentions of the sort of things that might happen to people in active war zones. If you want to skip it just start with the second paragraph in this part. Take care!
> 
> Bingo squares for this chapter:  
> Tony Stark Bingo: T1- Shopping together  
> Bucky Barnes Bingo: C4 - Ice Cream
> 
> And once again a HUUUUGE Thank You to everyone who left comments and kudos! They all make me smile so much and I´ll reply to them all as soon as this is posted (I´m somehow afraid that if I reply to them before the next chapter is out I wont actually finish it...my brain is weird...)

After the first time Tony cooked for Bucky, shared meals turned into a common occurrence.

Dinner became a less formal affair as they moved from the dining table to the couch, Tony trying to balance his plate on his baby bump as they watch bad Sci-Fi movies or re-runs of old sitcoms. They quickly learnt that they shared a love for horrible special effects and a distaste for laugh tracks.  
Whenever Bucky had to go into work for a night shift, they shared lunch instead - with Peter happily chatting between them as he munched on carrot sticks and cheese cubes.

Bucky had to admit he liked coming back from work to a home cooked meal, but he liked it just as much - if not more - when it was his turn to cook.

In the Barnes family the kitchen had been the center of the home after the living room had been converted into an additional bedroom when the twins were born. The huge table that dominated the room was where Bucky and his sisters did their homework, where their Alpha mother would sit down to sort the clean laundry and look for anything that needed mending, where their Omega father would balance spread sheets, pay bills and write the weekly grocery list. It was where family arguments were settled, where game nights took place - and where the Barnes children learnt important life skills. Bucky´s parents were both very practical people and firm believers in teaching their children everything they needed to know, regardless of their primary or secondary gender. So, Bucky and his alpha sister spent just as much time learning how to cook, doing dishes and other household chores as their two beta and one omega sister. 

After he´d left the army Bucky had mostly survived on cereal and sandwiches, as cooking for just oneself wasn´t really fun. But now, with Tony slurping his Ciorba - a recipe from Bucky´s Romanian grandmother - declaring that the sour flavor was exactly what he´d been craving, Bucky rediscovered how good it felt to prepare food for somebody.

From the shared meals it was a quick jump to sharing groceries, as Tony and Bucky both agreed that there wasn´t much point to having two open bottles of milk next to two open tubs of butter in the fridge.

And this was how Bucky found himself in the supermarket on his day off, pushing a cart through the aisles in an attempt to follow Tony who was blazing his way through the shop. Peter was sitting in the little kiddie seat in the cart, happily munching his way through a snack pack of animal cookies - "Relax, Buckaroo, I´m gonna pay for them. Unless he manages to finish them before we get to the cashiers...I´m kidding" - holding each one up to Bucky, so that the Alpha could tell him what animal it was.

"Aren´t you just the sweetest thing?" A high pitch voice came way to sudden and from way to close and Bucky had to fight the instinct to pull Peter from the cart so he could use it to defend himself and the pup. But the little old lady didn´t seem to notice his panic as she refocused his attention on him. "And it´s so nice to see an Alpha taking care of his pups. It´s all about shared responsibility if you want to make a relationship work. You see…" 

As she kept on sharing her unsolicited wisdom Bucky was looking over her shoulder at Tony. The Omega had been looking at laundry detergents – no doubt trying to find one with a scent that would not sent him running straight for the toilet - but had noticed the newcomer and was now smirking at the pleading look Bucky sent him.

"Hey babe, do you have any strong feelings about ocean breezes? " He asked as he finally – finally – made his way over, dumping a bottle in the cart.

"Oh my, it´s a family outing." The old woman reacted to Tony. "I hope you don´t think me rude, I was just telling your Alpha here what an adorable pup he has."

"Thank you." Tony said, brushing a hand over Peter´s head. "I grew him myself."

This startled a snort out of Bucky, but the lady didn´t seem to find it particularly funny. Instead she now zeroed in on Tony´s belly. "And another one on the way, I see. Good choice, you don´t want them to be too far apart in age…"

And this time Bucky didn´t stop himself. The moment she reached her hand out, he twirled the cart around, so it served as a barrier between her and them. A low grumbling growl came from somewhere and it actually took Bucky a second to realize that it was him making the noise.

"Oh, I´m so sorry…I didn´t mean no harm..." The lady´s expression was somewhere between embarrassed and scared and she quickly excused herself and hurried away.

Bucky followed her with his gaze as she gathered her own cart and the Alpha didn´t relax until she was around the corner. And only then did he realize what he´d done.  
"God, I´m so sorry Tony. That was so out of line…"

To Bucky´s surprise the Omega shook his head. "Not at all. If anyone was out of line it was Miss Grabby-Hands. Honestly, if you hadn´t put on this very impressive display of Alpha-ness, I would have slapped her hand away and then I would have been the rude Omega, that doesn´t know his place. But you going all _grr_ on her seemed to do the trick."

"But I could have hurt Peter…" Bucky still wasn´t convinced, but when he actually looked the pup seemed mostly concerned with his snacks. The only indicator that he might have picked up on the things going on around him was that he held out the box asking "Bucky want Hippomus?"

"Yes, Bucky would love a Hippopotamus and can I have a kangaroo, please?" Tony chimed in, handing one of the cookies to the Alpha before taking the other one his son held out for him. "And now we better pick up the pace, we still need to get toilet paper."

<<<>>>

Bucky woke with a start - the sound of explosions and people yelling ringing in his ears, the acrid smell of burning rubber, burning hair, burning flesh lingering in his nose – and it took him a moment to realize that he was lying on soft cotton sheets and not on coarse desert sand.

He stayed still, forcing his tense muscles to relax and the adrenaline to fade before he stumbled out of bed. He needed a glass of water if he wanted to have any chance of getting back to sleep.

The second he stepped out of his room, he noticed that the TV was running and he feared that he might have woken up Tony with his nightmare. But the Omega gave him a surprised look over the back of the sofa before raising the tub of Stracciatella gelato and suggesting "Grab a spoon, I´m willing to share."

Bucky could have easily declined the offer, taken his glass of water and retreated back to his own room. But the thought of lying there in the darkness, dreading he return of his memories as soon a he closed his eyes, sounded way less appealing than midnight ice-cream with Tony.  
True to his word, the Omega handed the tub over as soon as Bucky had sat down. "So, what brings you to this part of town at ass O´clock at night?" he asked, the teasing tone not completely hiding an underlying level of concern.

Bucky shrugged his shoulder and immediately regretted it, as the motion caused a sharp pain to travel through his left-arm. "Nightmares…" he replied, hoping that the dim, flickering light from the TV was enough to hide his flinch. "You?" he then asked back, eager to change the topic.

"Nothing so dramatic." Tony said, taking the tub of ice cream back. "Baby just decided that right now is the perfect time to practice his roundhouse kicks on my kidneys…" 

This time Bucky didn´t bother to hide his flinch. "That sounds painful…and again so, so very weird." 

Tony shrugged. "It´s not all bad, at least I get an excuse for eating ice cream in the middle of the night." Suddenly, the Omegas face shifted and he quickly sat up from his slouched position. "Oh, he knows we´re talking about him." With an excited giggle Tony reached for Bucky´s hand and placed it on his bump. 

For a second Bucky felt nothing but warm, taunt skin through a worn-soft T-Shirt but then there was a tap against his hand. Barely noticeable at first, but the second and third one were stronger. "Wow!" Bucky couldn´t help but stare at his and Tony´s hands, intertwined over the place where Tony´s baby was. 

"I think he´s trying to High-Five you." Tony said, laughter still in his voice as he moved Bucky´s hand around to meet the taps, showing no concern for the scars on the back of Bucky´s hand.

And that thought brought Bucky out of the happy little bubble they had created. Carefully he pulled his hand out of Tony´s grasp, making sure it didn´t seem like a rejection.

For a second the Omega seemed confused, but then his gaze landed on the mangled skin of Bucky´s left arm and he seemed to understand.

"You never asked about it." Bucky stated. He knew that Tony had noticed the scars, they were hard to miss, especially when Bucky wore short sleeves, but unlike other people who would stare, Tony´s gaze never seemed to linger (That first day Bucky had looked after Peter the pup had noticed them as well, running his small hands carefully over Bucky´s arm and commenting "Bumpy" before something else had caught his attention.)

"You never seemed particularly interested in talking about it." Tony did have a point there. "Look, we all have scars and since not all of us are walking disasters like Clint who has a fun story to go along with everyone of them, it´s perfectly all right to not want to talk about how you got them." He picked up the discarded tub of gelato, taking a huge scoop before holding it out to Bucky. "But hey, if you want to talk about it, there´s another one of those in the freezer."

"Not…maybe not now…" Bucky took the ice cream and leaned back, trying to relax again. "But I´ll keep it in mind."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> full disclosure: I have no idea what type of animals would be in an American box of animal crackers/cookies, I only picked Hippo because I thought of the cute mispronunciation (and also because I like Hippopotototamusses as I like to call them) and the kangaroo just jumped - ha! - in there...  
> Oh, and according to my Romanian co-worker Ciorba is a traditional type of soup that is made with Sauerkraut juice and thus pretty sour...


End file.
